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Scott Tolentino, Bear Lake Project Leader for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, sent in this report for fishing at Bear Lake and other area fisheries.

Monday, November 5, 2012 Bear Lake Fishing Report: Surface water temperature is 48F. Lake trout are starting to wind down from the spawning run, but anglers are still catching a few fish from shore in the mornings. Cutthroat trout fishing has been fair and should get better as the water continues to cool. Shore anglers are casting large spinners such as #5 or #6 Blue Fox or Mepps as well as spoons in the morning and evening off the Utah State Park marina for lake trout and they are still picking up a few fish, but the spawning season is winding down. These lake trout will begin to feed prior to winter and fishing should improve in the next few weeks. Boat anglers are having the best luck trolling off the rockpile area and off any of the rocky shorelines or points on the east and west sides of the lake. Good lures to try are rapalas with rattles, crankbaits with rattles, and flatfish in 10-20 feet of water. Troll parallel to shore starting shallow and working deeper until you find active fish. Anglers who prefer to jig can catch cutthroat trout and lake trout on tube jigs tipped with cisco or sucker meat. Garden City Community Fishery PondFishing remains good to excellent for catchable-sized rainbows and the angler pressure has been much lighter than the summer months. Several of these fish are tagged with a small metal tag on the dosal fin. This was for the Garden City Outdoor Heritage Days festival which was held back in September, however, no more prizes are available. Fly fishermen have been doing good using muddler minnows, wooly buggers or leach patterns. Also try using flies behind a bubble or try worms and Powerbait fished either under a bobber about 2 feet down or fished right on the bottom. Laketown ReservoirA late stocking of catchable-sized (10") triploid rainbow trout was made in October after water levels returned to normal after the irrigation season. Fishing has been fast for the newly stocked fish, but there are still some hold-over fish from previous years. These fish are 16-19" long and up to almost 3 pounds. Try wet flies such as wooly buggers and leeches. Bank fishermen are having the best luck on worms fished on the bottom.

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